Thursday, September 12, 2013

September 12, 2013 is Centennial of Birth of Olympic Track and Field Legend Jesse Owens in Oakville, Alabama


Jesse Owens (http://www.classicalmusicmagazine.org/2013/05/jesse-owens-in-song-the-sharecroppers-son-6-july/)

Jim Driscoll of www.michaelstimpson.co.uk sends this press release:

Today is the 100th anniversary of the birth of Jesse Owens
 
We have just launched a campaign on Kickstarter to raise funds to record a CD to mark Jesse's centenary, featuring the music of Michael Stimpson, the composer who has written an opera and a song cycle commemorating the American athlete's remarkable life.

The CD will feature
1. a recording of The Sharecropper's Son, the song cycle about Jesse's life, scored for baritone, soprano, and piano;
2. instrumental music from the opera Jesse Owens on which the song cycle is based (to be recorded by the outstanding Philharmonia Orchestra);
3. A recent piano work of Michael's, Preludes In Our Time, to be recorded by the wonderful Japanese pianist Megumi Fujita.

Visit Jesse's Kickstarter project page here to find out more and to make your donation.



The Ohio State University

A replica of a small, wooden house stands in Jesse Owens Memorial Park in Oakville, Alabama to commemorate the birthplace of the four-time Olympic gold medalist. It was there on Sept. 12, 1913, that James Cleveland (J.C.) Owens was born, the last of 10 children raised by Henry and Mary Emma Owens. At that time, Jesse's parents were sharecroppers and the family lived on a meager income. By the early 1920s, though, Jesse's older sister, Lillie, had moved north to Cleveland and wrote home how the city offered plenty of jobs in its factories and other businesses. So, the Owens family moved to Cleveland, settling on the east side.

In Cleveland, Jesse enrolled in Bolton Elementary School, where, the story goes, one of his teachers, misinterpreting how he pronounced "J.C." because of his southern accent, started calling him "Jesse." The name stuck.

After Bolton Elementary, Jesse attended Fairmount Junior High, where he met Charles Riley, the gym teacher and track coach. Riley had noticed Owens in gym class and encouraged him to start training for the track team. Riley had great influence on Owens, both technically and mentally. It was Riley who taught his athletes that training for longer races would help them in the 100- and 200-yard dashes. At the same time, Riley taught the mental aspect of competition. His motto, "Train for four years from next Friday," emphasized long-term rather than short-term gains.

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